BERKELEY -
California head coach Teri McKeever earned the latest distinction in a storied career when she was named the head coach of the 2012 U.S. women's Olympic swimming team, USA Swimming announced on Wednesday. This is the third Olympic stint for McKeever, who served as a U.S. assistant coach in the 2004 and 2008 Olympiads.

Wednesday's announcement included the naming of Florida coach Gregg Troy as the U.S. men's head coach for the 2012 London Olympics.

"I'm incredibly honored to have been selected for the women's head Olympic coach," McKeever said, "and I'm especially excited to be working alongside Gregg Troy in this role. As I look towards London, I think the women's team is in great shape. We have a nice blend of decorated veterans, like Natalie Coughlin and Rebecca Soni. They continue to swim fast and represent our country well, and I think they're going to complement a large number of promising young women, who show signs of great potential.

"Not only do I want to thank USA Swimming and its leadership for this honor, but I also have to thank the athletic administration here at Cal. They continued to allow me the opportunity to serve with USA Swimming in addition to my responsibilities in Berkeley, and I'm most appreciative."

Cal Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour lauded McKeever, who was named the NCAA Coach of the Year in 2009 after leading the Golden Bears to the program's first national team championship.

"I'm thrilled for Teri," Barbour said. "She is so richly deserving of this honor. The United States athletes under her leadership will indeed be the beneficiaries of her meticulous preparation and coaching. The Cal community is so very proud of Teri and this monumental appointment."

A USC All-American back in her competitive swimming days, McKeever has compiled a 152-52 dual-meet record at Cal and a 225-92 overall record, which includes her years as head coach of the Fresno State men's and FSU women's programs. She was the first woman coach to lead a women's team to the NCAA title, in 2009, and claimed the 2009 Pac-10 Coach of the Year award after Cal captured its first conference championship.

At the international level, McKeever was the first woman to serve on a U.S. Olympic swimming staff, in 2004, and the first woman to serve as a U.S. head coach, when she led the women's national team in the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships.

"This is a very, very big day for USA Swimming," USA Swimming executive director Chuck Wielgus said. "It's a very, very exciting day for our national team athletes, and it's a very, very happy day for two extraordinary individuals."

Coaching appointments are pending final approval by the USOC Board of Directors.

In their most recent U.S. coaching stints, McKeever and Troy served as the U.S. head coaches at the Pan Pacific Championships held last summer in Irvine, Calif.

Now in her 19th season at Cal, McKeever has coached several Olympians in Berkeley. That extensive group includes 11-time Olympic medalist U.S. Olympian Natalie Coughlin, U.S. gold medalist Staciana Stitts, U.S. silver medalist Haley Cope, U.S. gold medalist Dana Vollmer, New Zealand's Lauren Boyle, Thailand's Waen Minpraphal and two-time Hong Kong Olympian and current senior Hannah Wilson.

"Teri has been my coach since August 2000," Coughlin said. "Having her as my coach changed my life for the better, and I owe much of my success to her. She's been an amazing leader at Cal and for the USA Swimming national team in the past, and I am 100-percent confident that she will be an amazing Olympic head coach. Her ability to relate to female athletes and her skill of remaining focused during the most stressful of times are going to be vital to Team USA's success. I'm excited for her and hope to be a part of her 2012 Olympic team. She and coach Troy are going to make a great team."

The Bears return to action in the New Year when they travel to the state of Arizona to take on Arizona State on Jan. 21, 2011, and Arizona on Jan. 22, 2011.